The West Wing
actor Bradley Whitford and Malcolm in the Middle actress Jane Kaczmarek are to divorce.

Whitford’s publicist, Melissa Kates, confirmed the news about the couple, who were married in 1992 and went on to have three children. Whitford played Josh Lyman in political drama The West Wing and went on to star in writer Aaron Sorkin’s next big project, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Kaczmarek is currently starring as a judge in US law drama Raising the Bar.

Theatre run

Whitford has just finished filming horror film The Cabin in the Woods, which is set for release next year. The movie is written by Buffy the Vampire Slayer writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard. Whitford starred in a Broadway revival of Boeing-Boeing last year.

‘The West Wing’ was really a
popular show, focusing on reality of the political gallery. Most of the episodes focused on the various legislative and political issues which President Barlet and his underwent.  The series caught the attention of the common man as it told the tale of the scandals, the manipulations and the secrets hidden behind the bright and charming personalities of our politicians.

The situations covered in the storyline were almost always comparable with the political issues that were most important in the days when the series was being aired. After the presidential elections in 2000, when the republican President George W. Bush came to power, the audiences felt uncertain about the continuation of the show as they wondered if the show would retain its topicality. However all the speculations were put to rest when the show continued with its successful journey and even focused on many such issues which were most talked about in those days.

The show gives a sneak peak into not only the behind the door negotiations of the people in power with the Congress but also the personal issues of the politicians like their sex life and drug use. Many people compared one of the scandals associated with President
Barlet in the story, with the most controversial Monika Lewinsky scandal associated with President Bill Clinton in real life. The subplot revolved around the immense pressure felt by Presidential staff, because of President Barlet’s non disclosure of his illness to the electorate. He was shown to be suffering from sclerosis and was investigated by the opposition and accused of defrauding the public. The subplot ended with President Barlet eventually accepting the Congressional censure.

The entire series showcased many such scandals and issues in its main storyline as well as the subplots which resembled the real life American political scenes to a great extent. The whole series was quite interesting and the viewers had their eyes transfixed on their TV sets during the airing of the episodes. It is really sad that the series could not continue airing after its seventh season.

Have you seen the finale episode of West Wing? This is quite heart-touching episode. This is all about the final farewell to the ex-president now, Abigail Bartlet. After a long struggle he got the chair of President. Then until one year he was still struggling to deliver a notable performance to show the people that they have chosen the right person as their President. After many controversies and getting stuck into blame game and scandals, finally he leaves the chair. And all his staff is looking for other jobs after getting out of rule. He himself is confused about the situation. Obviously it is pretty difficult to leave the White House when you have spent royal time over there for a long.

You know I liked the two scenes the most from this episode. One when Leo McGarry’s daughter Mallory gifts Bartlet a cocktail napkin on which it is written ‘Bartlet for America’. Actually Garry given this napkin to Bartlet convincing him to fight for presidency of America, in the third season and the president got it framed and gifted it back to Garry as Christmas present. Bartlet recalls those moments in flash back in the finale episode.

The second scene I liked was when the president has got his farewell and he is looking at the same note thinking of the past eight years, then First Lady asks him what are you looking at? And Bartlet replies “Tomorrow”. This is pretty grasping scene and the viewer too dives into deep sea of thoughts and starts thinking about the previous episodes. Excellent filming and very well written ending of the show through this wonderful finale episode, I must say.

I didn’t watch this episode when it was aired. I missed it for some reasons and today I caught that here. In fact I am watching this show since many days over here. Usually I download two or three episodes so now gradually I reached the finale episode. Finale impressed me to that extent that I have watched it twice. Now I am thinking of watching this series once again.